Main menu

Celebrate Elvis’ Birthday With His Favorite Dishes

He may have been a hunka-hunka burning love, but Elvis Presley, the legendary King of Rock, may have passed away on August 16, 1977 (may have, as to this day people still claim to see The King at gas stations and such). Tomorrow is his birthday, and he would have been 79 if he was around.

How can we possibly lure rock and roll royalty out of retirement? In his later years, he was not known for his svelte figure, but more for his increased appetite. His diet may have been a bit of legend, and you may want to honor him this night with a limited-time offering of these dishes. You may have to keep them limited purely for health benefits; nothing on here is particularly healthy.

Peanut Butter And ‘Nanner Sandwich

The sandwich of legend with Elvis was the “peanut butter and ‘nanner sandwich,” which was a standard white-bread sandwich with peanut butter and slice bananas, slathered with butter and pan-fried. A sandwich like this could easily be made in the house, and once in a blue moon, wouldn’t cause the worst health problems for someone. In all actuality, just make a peanut butter and banana sandwich, but pan-fry it like a grilled cheese sandwich.

Fool’s Gold Loaf

A sandwich in excess in both creation and acquisition, Elvis famously had a plane fly out to the Colorado Mine Company in Denver at the cost of $16,000 for a $49.95 sandwich, NPR reports. The recipe consisted of

Take a whole loaf of Italian bread and slice it lengthwise. Hollow it out and slather it with margarine. Then add a whole jar of jelly and a whole jar of creamy peanut butter, creating two large boats of PB&J. Finally, add a whole pound of fried bacon. Before adding the bacon, dab away the grease on paper towels (presumably to avoid adding unnecessary fat and rendering the sandwich disgusting). Then reunite the sandwich halves, deep-fry, and serve.

The cost of ingredients for this menu item might be a bit large, but given that the price for the dish was more than enough to cover it. It’s excess, and people will pay more for the absurdity of the dish than the actual taste. You might just try it once in your life, though.

Maybe, just maybe, you can make it once and slice it for a party platter. No single man or woman should eat that entire sandwich.

Sean Brock’s Elvis Presley Milkshake

This one, we’ll leave to the recipe.

FromCome In, We’re Closed: An Invitation to Staff Meals at the World’s Best Restaurants

Serves 4 to 6

5 thick-cut strips of smoked bacon

2 very ripe bananas

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter

1/4 cup Buffalo Trace bourbon

3 cups vanilla ice cream, softened slightly

3 tablespoons of bacon fat, cooled

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, fry the bacon until very crispy, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain the bacon on paper towels. Reserve the rendered bacon fat separately, allowing it to cool slightly.

Place the bananas, peanut butter and bourbon in a blender. Add the cooked bacon and 3 tablespoons of the reserved bacon fat and blend until smooth, about 45 seconds, scraping down the sides if necessary. Add the ice cream and pulse to incorporate into a smooth shake, about 30 seconds. If you’d like, you can also incorporate the ice cream by hand by mixing it in with a whisk or an immersion blender; this will help keep the shake in a more frozen state. Serve immediately. Transfer any extra shake to a lidded container and reserve in the freezer. Because the alcohol prevents it from completely freezing, it turns into a scoopable ice cream.

Mainstream restaurants such as Burger King have teased with the notion of bacon in a shake, but bacon fat and bourbon might be a little too much.

Do you think you might want to try one of Elvis’ favorites in honor of his birthday?

Related Articles

The Big Game’s Big Food AdsThe Big Game was this past weekend, and while it may have been heavily sided for one team, it's the commercials that truly draw the attention of people. We've collected the food commercials for you ...

Uncommon Burger Toppings: Have You Tried Fried?In the fast-paced world of hamburgers, major chains and local legends are always in competition with each other, trying to one-up one another with a more amazing burger.
When it comes to the bun, ...

February Food HolidaysFebruary is here, and we've got a look at all the food-focused holidays during the month.
February 1
Don't set fire to the 49th state, but do enjoy Baked Alaska.
February 2
Have no idea what ...

2013′s Big Game Big AdsOne year ago, we had the "big game" with its big ads. We've got another one coming up on Sunday, but we've decided to take a look back at the commercials that dominated the airwaves last year. Do you ...

Food For The Feast: Chinese New YearAs the Chinese calendar is "lunisolar" (where the date indicates both time of the solar year and the moon phase), the New Year is actually arriving next Friday, January 31st. While you may have ...